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“Big data” is a big buzzword in the IT industry—and for good reason. Basically, we’re doubling the amount of digital data that we create every two years, according to the EMC Digital Universe Study. Think about all of the different types of information that’s moved from physical to digital form just over the last several years.

Doctors have moved from paper charts to electronic medical records; merchants have moved from paper credit card imprinters to POS terminals to virtual terminals to mobile payment devices. Internet of Things (IoT) technology is equipping objects—from Fitbits to traffic sensors to seismographs—to record, report and receive data, and create entirely new digital data streams. And everyone is growing their digital footprint on myriad of social networks, and with the companies they do business with,

Organizations that can effectively harness and use this information can gain dramatic market advantages over those that don’t: SMB Group’s 2015 SMB Routes to Market Studyshows that SMBs that have deployed analytics solutions are 14% more likely than peers to expect revenues to rise than peers that rely on spreadsheets for business analytics.

But let’s face it—most small and medium businesses (SMBs) don’t have dedicated data scientists on staff. Without this type of in-house expertise available, SMBs feel that moving from basic tools that analyze internal, transactional data to a more comprehensive analytics approach is out of reach.

However, a new generation of powerful, yet cost-effective cloud-based analytics solutions are emerging that can help level the analytics playing field for more SMBs.

Cloud Is the New Normal for SMBs

SMB adoption of cloud solutions has grown steadily over the last few years (Figure 1) to become part of the business fabric for most SMBs. In fact, SMB Group’s 2015 SMB Routes to Market Study reveals that SMB cloud deployments are poised to overtake on-premises deployments in the next year in areas such as collaboration, file sharing and marketing automation.

Figure 1: Trends In SMB Cloud Adoption
SMBs are moving to the cloud include because they view it as a more cost-effective, flexible and faster way to deploy IT solutions (Figure 2). Cloud computing take care of IT infrastructure, applications, and ongoing management and support, offering SMBs economies of both scale and skill.

Figure 2: Top Reasons Driving SMB Cloud Adoption

Analytics Meets the Cloud

In the analytics space, in which technology is advancing at warp speed, cloud analytics providers are building powerful, yet easy to use analytics solutions that few SMBs would have the resources or expertise to build on their own.

For instance, cloud analytics solutions often utilize database technologies that can deal with both structured and unstructured data, so that you can analyze different types data from both internal and external sources. They also use technologies to speed data processing, number crunching and analytics to deliver analysis more quickly to decision-makers.

Some vendors provide pre-packaged applications that integrate all of the components necessary for analytics solution, including connectors to business solutions; the data model; tools to extract, transform and load (ETL) data; a semantic layer; query and reporting capabilities; and predefined metrics, reports and dashboards.

In addition, cloud analytics providers build their infrastructures and services to support thousands of companies. This means they can offer customers on-demand scalability to adjust resources up or down as needed for peak decision-making times, such as during the holiday season for retailers.

Cloud analytics also gives everyone access to the same information in real-time. Instead of trying to reconcile data from different spreadsheets and applications, everyone is automatically on the same page in terms of data so they can reach consensus and make decisions more quickly.

As important, cloud analytics solutions are often designed for business users, offering capabilities such as:

User-friendly interfaces, with guided discovery to make it easier to ask the questions that will lead to “aha” moments and insights.

Visualization tools that turn rows of data into visuals that represent what the data says in intuitive ways.

Natural language capabilities so users can easily query the data.

With these capabilities baked in, SMBs can start thinking about moving beyond descriptive analysis, which provides insight into the past to answer, “What has happened?” to more sophisticated analysis, including:

Predictive analytics, which use statistical models and forecasts techniques to understand the future and to answer, “What could happen?” For instance, you could use predictive analytics to anticipate customer behavior and purchasing patterns, predict sales profitability trends, or forecast inventory demand.

Prescriptive analytics, which use optimization and simulation algorithms to provide advice on possible actions to answer, “What should we do?” For example, Google’s self-driving car uses prescriptive analytics to decide whether and when the car should change lanes on highway by anticipating what might be coming in terms of traffic and other drivers.

SMB Preference for Cloud Analytics Is Growing

As in other solution areas, more SMBs are opting to analytics solutions in the cloud (Figure 3). SMB Group’s 2015 SMB Routes to Market Study shows among the SMBs that have purchased or upgraded an analytics solution in the past 24 months, 62% selected an on-premises solution, while 38% chose a cloud option. Looking ahead, however, just 40% of SMBs that are planning to purchase and/or upgrade analytics solutions are planning to buy an on-premises solution, while 42% are planning to use a cloud offering, and 18% have yet to decide.

Figure 3: SMBs’ Current and Planned Solution Deployment Methods for Business Intelligence/Analytics

Summary and Perspective

At a time when information is proliferating at an unprecedented rate, SMBs need to be able to easily access, understand, analyze, report and act on critical information. With the right tools, decision-makers can spot new opportunities, avoid mistakes and identify small problems before they mushroom into big ones.

Fortunately, more vendors are building powerful yet cost-effective cloud-based analytics solutions that are much easier to “layer” on top existing data than in the past. Designed for business users, these solutions offer user-friendly interfaces, guided discovery, visualization tools and natural language capabilities to help bring data to life.

While SMBs must still do their homework to determine which of the growing list of cloud analytics solutions will be the best fit for their businesses, the advantages of fact-based decision-making cannot be underestimated. The trend towards cloud analytics will likely strengthen in 2016, as more SMBs continue to opt for solutions that are easy to buy and use and can provide faster and better value to the business.

The World Wide Web became commercially viable 20 years ago, and it quickly became clear that the phrase “The Internet Changes Everything,” was spot on. The Internet has forever changed and continues to transform the ways we do things, both in the business world and in our personal lives. It has spawned and enabled an explosion of innovation, from cloud and mobile solutions to social networking to big data and analytics, destroyed old business models and created new ones.

IoT: The Internet’s Latest Game Changer

Most recently, the Internet has delivered its latest game changer: the Internet of things, or IoT. As with the Internet innovations that preceded it, IoT again presents tremendous potential for disruption–along with all of the opportunities and challenges that go along with this type of sea change. Gartner forecasts that by the end of 2015, there will be almost 5 billion ‘things’ connected to the Internet. By the end of 2020 that number will rise to 25 billion, or more than three things connected to the Internet for each person on the planet.

Yet IoT is barely on the radar of most small and medium business (SMB) decision-makers. When asked in SMB Group’s 2015 SMB Routes to Market Study, “What are the top three technology areas that are most critical for your business to invest in over the next 12 months?” IoT ranked at or near the bottom. Only 18% of small and 13% of medium business decision-makers selected IOT as one of their top three priorities.

Figure 1: SMB Rank Their Top Three Technology Investment Areas

Clearly, SMBs need help to better understand this trend, and the opportunities and challenges it presents.

Cyber-Physical Systems or “smart” systems are co-engineered interacting networks of physical and computational components. These systems will provide the foundation of our critical infrastructure, form the basis of emerging and future smart services, and improve our quality of life in many areas. Cyber-physical systems will bring advances in personalized health care, emergency response, traffic flow management, and electric power generation and delivery, as well as in many other areas now just being envisioned.

In laymen’s terms, IoT is when “things”–objects, people, animals, etc.–are equipped with sensors and assigned an IP address. These sensors are programmed to send data over a network automatically, so you can access and use the data to make better decisions. Using IoT, people can monitor, measure, access and manage the physical environment more efficiently. For instance:

Tennis players can track and analyze ball speed, spin, and impact location to improve their game via sensors in their racquets.

Smart buildings can monitor energy use in real-time, so they can use heating and cooling resources more effectively, and run elevators based on actual occupancy.

Manufacturers can operate more efficiently by enabling equipment to proactively call for maintenance before a failure occurs.

While wearable, consumer IoT devices have garnered much of the early buzz, most experts agree that business and public sector opportunities will dwarf those on the consumer side. But, commercial IoT systems have the capacity to ingest vast quantitative of data from different sources. All of this data must be normalized and secured, and then analyzed to make sense of it. These are the hard bits, and most SMBs need help to understand these variables to effectively harness the power of IoT.

Unpacking IoT at DellWorld

Dell World 2015 provided a glimpse into its approach to create an IoT solution that does much of the heavy lifting with the Dell Edge Gateway 5000 Series. Dell’s Gateway collects, manages, and secures sensor data, using Edge analytics for analysis and to mitigate potential data overload issues. The solution determines what data is important, and transmits that to the cloud for analysis and action, leaving unnecessary data on the local device.

Several Dell customers demonstrated how they use the solution. For example, RCR Racing uses Dell’s Gateway solution in its “Smart Pitstop.” Racing at speeds of 190 mph or more, successful pit stops are essential for RCR car performance. In fact, auto races can be won and lost because of the many actions–from wheel changing to refueling–that the pit crew performs in a matter of seconds. In addition to monitoring performance indicators in its Smart Pitstop dashboard, RCR assesses pit crew performance. By monitoring key variables, such as how the heart rate of a tire changer affects how well they secure the tire, RCR improves performance and increase confidence. Looking ahead, RCR plans to add more sensor information, such as weather and track data into the dashboard to further improve outcomes.

Dell is also working with third-party software vendors and system integrators for domain expertise. At DellWorld, Eigen Innovations demonstrated how it uses Dell’s Gateway in its Intellexon Gateway in factory floor environments to collect boiler room data with thermal imaging cameras. The cameras monitor the melting process, and proactively alert for certain conditions so that very expensive equipment can be fixed before it goes down. Eigen builds human expertise into the system, training it to crunch relevant data in the cloud and analyze it for continuous monitoring.

In addition to providing data filtering, Dell’s Gateway normalizes data from different sensors–even data from older, non-Internet compliant sensors–into a unified state for analysis. Combined with included security and manageability capabilities, Dell’s Gateway offers a holistic IoT approach.

The Time Has Come To Explore IoT

With limitless potential use cases, and early adopters already experiencing great outcomes, IoT could be the biggest Internet-fueled game-changer yet. But along with boundless opportunity come questions and challenges, especially for SMBs, who typically lack IT resources and expertise. Where do I start? What projects are realistic for my business? How do I store, secure and analyze it? These are just some of the questions to consider.

To avoid getting overwhelmed, break things down and take a practical approach:

Pick a small, realistic test project, using devices you already have for sensors. Some companies have even used old smartphones to get started.

Address a clearly defined business problem or opportunity with an affordable solution.

Identify goals and metrics–such as lower fuel consumption, proactive alerts, or more efficient operations–so you can measure effectiveness.

Look for pre-configured solutions specific to your use case/industry so that you don’t have to figure out how to pull all the pieces–security, analytics, storage and management–together.

Seek help from vendors and partners that can help reduce IoT complexity and risk and help you gain benefits more quickly.

Finally, keep in mind that most big businesses have big plans to instrument their operations for IoT to reap the intelligence and performance gains that IoT offers. SMBs need to get on the IoT learning curve to gain these same advantages and compete on a level playing field.

P.S. Dell is sponsoring an Internet of Things Contest! Design your IoT solution with real business impact for a chance to win one of 16 prizes worth up to $150,000 in value.

The roots of cloud computing date back to the late 1990s, but the “cloud” continues to evolve—as does the conversation about its impact on technology and business. So I welcomed the opportunity to moderate a discussion of cloud past, present and future at Dell’s recent 1-5-10 Cloud roundtable in Washington DC. Dell’s 1-5-10 series is designed to engage Dell customers, executives and influencers in discussions exploring the implications of major tech trends over the one, five and ten years

Top Takeaways

The cloud means different things to different people–but “game changer” is the common thread. We kicked off the roundtable by asking participants to describe cloud in three words or less. Customers chose descriptors such as cost-effective, flexible, reliable and mobile. For instance, Edima Elingewinga, Executive Director, Information Technology at the United Nations Foundation, used mobile as a key descriptor, noting that “Cloud facilitates communication all around the world. That is critical, and that is what drove us to the cloud.” Meanwhile, Dell execs used terms such as digital services enablement, future-ready, and scalable to describe the cloud. However the group was in consensus that the cloud is a game-changer for businesses, government and non-profits.

Federal government adoption of cloud has slowed since the Cloud First policy was established. Cloud First is an initiative launched in 2011 by then US CIO Vivek Kundra. The policy mandated that government agencies had to evaluate a cloud computing option first, and had to have a strong rationale on why they could not use cloud before they could purchase traditional on-premises solutions. As Dell Director of Product, Cloud Management Systems James Urquhart noted, “If you look at this from 2010-2013, you’d have to argue that the federal government as a whole was ahead of the enterprise” with a top-down approach and mandate. But, despite early advocacy and some marquee cloud deals, federal adoption has been more sluggish than many had anticipated, as noted in a 2014 report from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), CLOUD COMPUTING : Additional Opportunities and Savings Need to Be Pursued. David Lancaster, Dell Federal marketing executive, believes that this is due in part to different agencies having different requirements for different types of clouds—which makes the sourcing process complex and time-consuming. “The federal government is more concerned about private cloud because of security,” added Dr. Lon D. Gowen, chief technologist and special advisor to the CIO at USAID. According the GAO report, legacy migration concerns, cultural barriers and skills deficits also put a drag on adoption.

The silver lining in Cloud First is that it sparked adoption in the private sector. Government endorsement of Cloud First paved the way for the private sector to become more bullish on cloud adoption. As Edina Elinewinga, commented, “If the government can trust the cloud, we can trust the cloud.” As a result, private sector adoption is now outpacing that of the federal government.

Cloud computing decisions are becoming more strategic and complex. Whether in business or government, cloud conversations are evolving into discussions of how cloud computing can provide strategic business benefits. As Executive Director and General Manager of Dell Cloud Services Jeremy Ford commented, “The cloud is an enabler, not the point of the discussion. The more organizations view it as an enabler, the more successful they’ll be.” Dell Vice President and General Manager for Engineered Solutions and Cloud Jim Ganthier observed that the conversation is shifting away from “either/or” private or public cloud to one of an “and” conversation in an increasingly hybrid cloud computing world. As Dr. Phil Yang, director of the NSF Spatiotemporal Innovation Center stated, “Choosing the right cloud is like match making, you need to think of it like uber legos.” Participants agreed that most organizations will choose to utilize both public and private clouds, depending on a requirements, constraints and other considerations.

Cloud is changing the role of IT. As the cloud conversation shifts to business enablement, IT is increasingly expected to serve as a strategic advisor to the business. Edina Elinewinga said that she has become more of a technology broker in her role now. In addition, IT must assume responsibility for developing a coherent strategy to guide organizations in how to use and integrate different types of cloud deployment models and providers.

Cloud will become the fabric of our lives. Big Data and the Internet of Things (IoT) will drive cloud growth over the next 10 years, affecting every aspect of cloud decision-making—from infrastructure and management to strategy requirements. “Big data and IoT are examples of usage models that wouldn’t have been practical or enabled without the cloud,” observed Jeremy Ford. “In about 10 years, everything will be part of the cloud, and we won’t use the word cloud to describe what we are using,” according to Dr. Phil Yang. And Jim Ganthier predicts that “We won’t be talking about “the cloud” in the future. It will be all about the data generated and how we use it.”

Privacy and security concerns will continue to be top of mind cloud concerns–and power issues will enter the discussion. Privacy and security issues will intensify as more devices, more data comes into play. Edina Elinewinga noted that she is focused on how to keep the work environment and data secure as more and more UN Foundation employees bring different technologies and applications into work. As cloud computing becomes more ubiquitous, power issues will also arise. Dr. Lon D. Gowen predicted, that we’ll need “power over the airwaves to enable future generations of cloud computing.

Summary and Perspective

The cloud conversation is increasingly centered on business problem solving, enablement and innovation. And, big data and IoT are likely to fuel exponential growth in cloud adoption and use cases beyond what most of us can even imagine today.

However, as cloud computing becomes a ubiquitous solution for more problems, cloud alternatives and issues are also becoming more numerous, nuanced. Cloud choices will also become more inter-dependent and related. As complexity and choice expands, brokerage services will become essential in helping most organizations navigate the cloud landscape.

As business reliance on the cloud grows, IT and business decision-makers must align to meet business requirements and optimize long-term security, agility and flexibility with cloud solutions. Both groups will also need guidance and education to build a common foundation from which they can engage to optimize their cloud investments.

As a 104-year old company, IBM has undergone many makeovers over the years to tack to the ever-changing winds of the technology industry and the market. 2015 ushered in what may prove to be one of it’s biggest transformations, when earlier this year, IBM CEO Ginni Rometty dramatically reorganized the company to better align with today’s cloud, mobile and analytics oriented technology landscape, and with the increasing consumerization of the business technology market.

This time, IBM’s restructuring puts software in the spotlight. IBM is replacing its former software, hardware and services silos with a more holistic approach designed to synchronize with customers’ growing preferences for cloud-based solutions. Research, Sales & Delivery, Systems, Global Technology Services, Cloud, Watson (IBM’s artificial intelligence and analytics), Security, Commerce and Analytics are now IBM’s main business units, with Mobility as an overlay to these groups. Meanwhile, IBM hardware and software channel teams will both report into IBM’s global Business Partner Group.

InterConnect 2015: Hybrid Cloud Takes Center Stage

In February, we had our first chance to see how these organizational shifts are coming to life. At IBM InterConnect, IBM rolled what had previously been three separate events for three different solutions groups (Pulse/Tivoli, Impact/WebSphere and Innovate/Rational) into one, reflecting the organizational changes. IBM took advantage of this opportunity begin to put its new story in perspective for an audience of over 21,000 customer, partner and influencer attendees.

IBM has cast it’s hybrid cloud strategy in the starring role of the next chapter of it’s story, with mobile, integration and business process, security, IoT and data, and the partner ecosystem in key supporting roles. Needless to say, IBM was trying to cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time, but here are the key themes that it emphasized:

The hybrid cloud is key to digital transformation. IBM wants to provide customers with an open, flexible cloud experience across public and private clouds. IBM highlighted the importance of portability, announcing Enterprise Containers, based on a partnership between IBM and Docker. The partnership will result in IBM solutions integrated with Docker Hub Enterprise (DHE) to help companies to more efficiently run and build applications that will run anywhere, from a developer’s laptop to the IBM Cloud or on-premises. IBM also introduced Virtual Machines and Containers are now integrated as core infrastructure options in Bluemix, its cloud development platform, and virtual machined (VMs) powered by OpenStack to help IT deliver consistent, scalable business services and integrated monitoring.

IBM MobileFirst, to help companies build and manage the mobile apps. According to IBM, 85% of enterprises have a mobile app backlog. IBM is positioning its MobileFirst Platform v7, announced at the event, to help companies to catch up with the backlog, and to get more value from their mobile app investments. Enhancements include capabilities to enable more efficient development, secure integration, continuous delivery, as well as an improved UI. IBM has also added a new component, the MobileFirst Platform Cloudant Data Layer Local Edition, for web and mobile access.

Integration at the heart of hybrid. IBM had an Integration Booth at the event, and introduced 5 new services designed to connect clouds, refine and sync data across applications and clouds. These included API Harmony, API Harmony, which uses Watson to help developers find the right IBM or a third-party API for integration requirements; and Secure Gateway, to securely connect APIs, existing data, and systems to Bluemix through a Passport service.

A new way to think about security. Most surveys show that security concerns are still the key inhibitor to cloud adoption. To help address this, IBM is encouraging customers to take a more proactive, analytics-based security approach. The vendor announced over 70 new security products and enhancements, and highlighted two 2014 security acquisitions, Lighthouse Computer Services and Crossideas as evidence of its focus on beefing up cloud and mobile security offerings to help businesses better protect, detect and respond to threats.

IoT and data as agents of business transformation. The Internet of Things (IoT) and big data are two of the hottest IT trends. These two trends are also tightly connected, as the billions of IoT objects and devices coming online are generating massive quantities of data, which must be tracked, analyzed and put to practical use. As IoT exponentially accelerates data volume, velocity and variety, companies will need high-powered analytics solutions to harness and generate insights from it. This trend is behind IBM’s newly formed Internet of Things division, and initiatives that IBM is now exploring to leverage Watson analytical capabilities in an IoT world.

The ecosystem is vital to IBM’s cloud success. In order to fulfill on its goal of creating the “most successful cloud ecosystem and developer experience in the industry,” IBM is ramping up programs for developers, ISVs, entrepreneurs and colleges and universities. In addition to more traditional programs, IBM is targeting top local communities and cities for as event hubs for meetups, classes, hackathons, learnathons and other programs designed to build a next-generation partner ecosystem in the cloud.

Perspective

The changes that IBM is making to its organization and to its solution and partner focus are major ones. In the past, IBM operated in a more siloed manner, with each business unit owning its own P&L, budget, headcount and control. Back in the day, when companies often pursued different buying journeys and sought out different vendors for hardware and software, this made sense.

However, cloud computing has significantly blurred these lines. In the cloud model, buyers more often seek a solution, not piece parts. IBM’s new structure and vision are designed to meet these new expectations and demands. In an ideal world, these changes will enable IBM to more easily bring its technology innovations (such as Watson, Bluemix, and joint open source solutions) to market, and take center stage among in the cloud and adjacent markets.

But, the world is not ideal. Although IBM may have more IP, patents and research fellows than the next few tech vendors combined, it faces significant obstacles in terms of competing with more nimble competitors. To help address this, IBM recently hired Kevin Eagan, longtime Microsoft executive, as Vice President and General Manger for IBM’s Digital Channel. Eagan takes on the daunting task of making IBM easier to do business with, and as such, will play a pivotal role in IBM’s future cloud fortunes.

IBM also faces substantial pricing and margin hurdles. Will the board of directors and stockholders be willing to cannibalize traditional, higher margin business to build higher volume, but lower margin cloud business? Finally, can Big Blue get 400,000 IBMers energized and organized for the new mission?

At Interconnect, IBM demonstrated that it understands the magnitude of change that cloud, mobile, big data and IoT have wrought, and articulated its strategy to get ahead of the curve and the competition. Only time will tell if IBM can meet the necessary and perhaps more formidable challenges to change its systems, business model and culture to make this vision a reality.

Detailed SMB Group Top 10 SMB Technology Trends for 2015

Cloud is the new IT infrastructure for SMBs. SMBs increasingly view technology as a key business enabler. According to SMB Group research, 67% of small businesses (1–99 employees) and 81% of medium businesses (100–999 employees) say that technology solutions help them improve business outcomes or run the business better. However, most SMBs don’t have the resources necessary to keep pace with technology on their own. Just 19% of small businesses employ full-time dedicated IT staff. And while 86% of medium businesses have internal IT staff, they are typically IT generalists who lack expertise in newer technology areas such as mobile and analytics. As SMB requirements for fast, easy access to new social and mobile analytics solutions, more compute power and storage, and other services have been increasing, cloud adoption has boomed—with 92% of SMBs are now using at least one cloud business solution and 87% using at least one cloud infrastructure solution. In 2015, cloud solutions are poised for hockey stick growth as more SMB decision-makers turn to a cloud-first approach that not only supports existing business models, but also enables them to develop innovative new products, services and business models. Public cloud adoption will continue to significantly outpace that of private cloud, but more medium businesses in particular will consider a hybrid cloud approach, particularly in industries and applications where security and privacy are top concerns.

SMB IT staff and channel partners evolve into cloud managers. As the cloud becomes mainstream, both internal SMB IT staff and external channel partner roles will evolve from implementation and break/fix support to become more proactive and strategic. SMBs will look for staff and channel partners that can work with line-of-business decision-makers to better align technology investments with business goals, select best-fit solutions and manage cloud service providers. Internal IT staff and channel partners will also need stronger integration expertise to help SMBs get more value from their technology investments. Channel partners will need to cultivate consultative selling and adjust staffing skill sets accordingly. SMB decision-makers will seek help to better understand and articulate new skill-set requirements, and to hire and/or contract for these needs. They will be hungry for thought leadership from SMB vendors, analysts and other influencers.

SMBs recalibrate IT strategy and spending for a mobile world. A growing majority of SMBs now regard mobile solutions as essential business enablers, with 60% saying that mobile solutions are critical to their business. 86% of SMBs agree or strongly agree that mobile apps are a complement to traditional business applications, and 71% believe that mobile apps will replace some traditional solutions entirely. Mobile solutions also account for a growing share of SMBs’ technology budgets. SMB median spending on mobile technology and solutions as a percentage of total technology spending rose from roughly 12% in 2013 to 16% in 2014. Mobile service and device costs still account for the bulk of SMB mobile budgets, but SMB spending in other areas is rising as a percentage of mobile spend. On average, in 2014, SMBs spent 11% of their mobile dollars on apps, 9% on security, 11% on mobile management and 8% on consulting. Planned increased investment in mobile apps and more diverse mobile devices will necessitate a spike in mobile management adoption as well.

The Internet of Things (IoT) comes into focus. IT vendors and prognosticators have been forecasting explosive growth for more intelligent and connected devices of all types. However, many IoT scenarios have been cast in a consumer light, such as smart watches and Tile (a locator for items such as keys and glasses), and the IoT vision has been fuzzy for many SMBs. In 2015, however, early but compelling use-case scenarios and solutions will emerge, leading more SMBs to the “aha” moments required to spark adoption. For instance, radio-frequency identification (RFID) has been used in logistics to track pallets and crates for some time, but mostly in closed-loop systems for high-value goods. IoT will help reduce RFID costs, making it more practical and appealing to retailers to use in order to help improve inventory accuracy, automate customer checkout and reduce theft. Beacons, which are indoor positioning systems that communicate directly with smart phones via Bluetooth, provide another compelling SMB use case. For example, a network of in-store beacons can identify the location of customers in a store and send them push notifications. Or, a trucking company could install beacons to monitor the state of its trucks, provide more timely maintenance, reduce vehicle downtime and decrease costs. Once SMBs understand use cases more clearly, IoT will hold great appeal because it is mostly invisible to end users, which negates adoption issues, and it provides real-time data for better decision-making and better business outcomes.

SMBs reinvent marketing for the new buyer journey. The buyer journey is evolving rapidly and includes many more touch points than ever before. SMBs must transform their marketing approach to connect with more prospects and customers, and to provide them with the right information at the right time in the buying journey. Although many small and even medium businesses rely on point solutions, more will turn to an integrated marketing approach. In 2014, 20% of small businesses and 25% of medium businesses had purchased/upgraded to a marketing automation solution in the past 24 months. Meanwhile, 22% of small businesses and 26% of medium businesses plan to purchase/upgrade a marketing automation solution in the next 12 months. More SMBs will realize that choosing the right marketing automation solution is one of the most important technology decisions they will make, particularly as cloud, mobile, social, analytics and other technologies continue to transform the buying process.

KPIs trump ROI and TCO as the new “show me” metric. Historically, vendors have tended to focus on proving solution value through return on investment (ROI) and total cost of ownership (TCO) analysis and metrics. But these assessments and metrics, while often beneficial, are frequently too vague and/or too dependent on nuanced measurements to be compelling for SMBs. In comparison, key performance indicators (KPIs) can provide SMBs with specific, actionable insights on business performance and what areas need improvement. With so many vendors fighting for SMB dollars, SMBs will increasingly seek out those that help them understand what KPIs are most relevant for their business and industry, and those that provide credible, specific metrics about how their solutions affect these KPIs.

Analytics gets SMB-friendly with “bring your own data” and freemium offerings. Most SMBs don’t have data analysts on staff. These businesses often are intimidated by analytics solutions, which have traditionally been expensive, complex and difficult to use. But cloud computing, better user interfaces, visualization tools, improved algorithms and natural language capabilities as well as a growing number of freemium offerings designed for business decision-makers—not data scientists—are poised to change this. For instance, IBM’s Watson freemium offering allows users to bring in data from many sources, and it has capabilities that reduce data preparation and loading time, including a “fix it” button to repair data quality issues. Once data is plugged into Watson, users can query in natural language to analyze information. As more solutions designed for people with little or no data preparation and analytics skills emerge, analytics will become more consumable for SMBs.

It’s time to reimagine work. Whether you prefer the hashtag #futureofwork, #newwaytowork, #reimaginework or something else, it’s clear that change is on the horizon. Processes, tools, attitudes and behaviors are shifting as mobile, social, cloud, analytics, IoT and other technology advances take hold in SMBs. Likewise, demographic shifts are reshaping the makeup of SMB workers as well as their expectations of what technology should do and how it should do it. For instance, millennials and digital natives are rising through the workforce ranks, while baby boomers are starting to retire or move to part-time work. Meanwhile, the ranks of temporary and contract workers continue to grow. The National Employment Law Project found that temporary help agencies, staffing agencies, professional employer organizations and employment placement agencies fill 2.5% of all jobs, up from 1.4% in 1990. In addition, easy-to-use consumer apps and devices have raised the bar for user experience in the business-to-business (B2B) world. This changing mix of resources, behavior, attitudes and requirements will lead more SMBs to seek better, easier and more affordable ways to access, evaluate, buy and get productive with technology solutions. Vendors that understand and plan for this evolution, provide clear solution value and make SMB customers feel that they are part of a strong ecosystem will have a decisive edge as this trend unfolds. Providing easy access and free trials, clear messaging, a delightful user experience, superior support and vibrant user communities will be key to tapping into this trend.

SMBs place a premium on protection. SMBs are already using basic security and backup tools. However, our research shows that most use point solutions that only tackle part of the problem. The use of more comprehensive solutions to protect and manage data is still far from the norm. But greater reliance on technology, an increasing number of “moving parts” (traditional apps and infrastructure, cloud, social, mobile, etc.) and the need to manage data no matter where it resides necessitate better security, control and management capabilities. SMBs need only turn on the news to understand the financial, brand and legal ramifications of data breaches at large companies such as Sony Pictures, Home Depot and eBay. As awareness rises, SMBs will place a premium on more comprehensive solutions from vendors that offer proactive guidance, deeper expertise, stronger service-level agreements (SLAs) and 24/7 support for an always-on world.

SMBs opt for an incremental, integrated solutions approach. New cloud, mobile and social solutions have made it easier for SMBs to access and use new applications, but they have offered little help with integration. Although 63% of SMBs have partially integrated some applications, 79% still rely on manual Excel file uploads or custom code for integration, which underscores the severity of the problem. SMBs typically lack the expertise and resources to manage the entire integration process, and they need solutions that both encompass and better integrate cloud, mobile, social, analytics, security and other technologies. However, SMBs don’t want—and can’t digest—monolithic solutions. Vendors need to accommodate SMB integration requirements with a LEGO-like approach that enables SMBs to acquire only what they need at a given point in time, and then to add on new capabilities (their own or those of partners) with as little friction as possible when new needs arise. Although integration remains one of the toughest technology nuts to crack, we see new hope. Open ecosystems, embedded integration capabilities and stronger APIs should help pave the way, as should toolsets designed to help non-technical users to configure integrations without coding if they understand business integration workflows and requirements. Built-in collaboration and social communities to help users crowdsource information, find experts and share and/or sell integrations will also be key to making SMB integration a reality.

About SMB Group

SMB Group focuses exclusively on researching and analyzing the highly fragmented “SMB market”—which is composed of many smaller, more discrete markets. Within the SMB market, SMB Group’s areas of focus include: Emerging Technologies, Cloud Computing, Managed Services, Business and Marketing Applications, Collaboration and Social Media Solutions, IT Infrastructure Management and Services, and Green IT.

From November 4-6, Dell will host roughly 5,000 customer, partner and influencer attendees at its fourth annual Dell World conference in its hometown of Austin, Texas, and up to 10,000 attendees will tune in live online.

For those who are unfamiliar with it, Dell World is Dell’s premier annual customer and partner event. Having found the three prior Dell World events I attended to be both informative and fun, I was eager to find out what’s on tap for this year’s event. So I was delighted to get a sneak preview from Jeanne Trogan, Dell’s Executive Director of Global Events, about what Dell World will offer.

With time arguably being our most valuable asset, here’s my take on why you’d want to take 3 days out of your busy schedule to attend Dell World based on this preview.

Gain a clearer understanding of how technology can help solve business problems and meet business goals.

Companies want to harness technology for better business outcomes, but it’s often hard to figure out how to do this. According to SMB Group’s 2014 SMB Routes to Market Study, small and medium businesses (SMBs) increasingly view technology as a means to automate operations and work more efficiently, and as a vital tool for creating and sustaining a vibrant, growing business (Figure 1). But the same study also shows that figuring out how different technology solutions can help their businesses is a top challenge for many SMBs.

Figure 1: SMB Technology Perspectives

With this in mind, Dell World will provide customers–from SMB to large enterprises–with high-level advice and expertise to help them understand how and why key technology trends are reshaping business and consumer practices and behaviors. Keynote speakers, including Dell CEO Michael Dell and other tech and business innovators from business and academia will put cloud, mobile, analytics, security, the Internet of Things (IoT) and other trends into sharper focus, and help attendees stay ahead of the technology curve.

Learn how to turn strategy into reality.

Refreshing your technology strategy and direction is the critical first step, but then you have to figure out how to execute. In fact, figuring out cost-effective ways to implement and/or upgrade solutions and to keep them up and running are also daunting challenges for SMBs (Figure 2).

Figure 2: SMB Technology Challenges

Dell World is chock full of interactive sessions as well as hands-on labs and demos to help attendees kick the tires on new solutions, and fulfill the new technology requirements that their businesses require. Attendees can choose from more than 70 breakout sessions for a deeper dive into how to make technology work for the business. For instance session topics range from how to conquer cloud chaos to how to maximize mobility benefits without compromising security, and labs address areas such as big data and analytics, desktop virtualization, and streamlining IT management.

In the Solutions Expo, attendees can get an up close and personal look at the latest solutions. This year, Dell is reorienting the Solutions Expo from a Dell product-centric approach to a customer-centric problem and solution approach. The floor will feature different paths that start with technology problem areas, and guide customers toward relevant solutions and information. I think Dell’s refreshed approach to the Expo floor and demonstrations will be something that customer attendees will appreciate.

Learn outside the classroom.

Just like when you were in school, sometimes the most important learning you do takes place outside of the classroom. Networking is a key part of Dell World with other attendees for fresh perspectives, exchange information and compare notes, not just at the event, but over the longer term. In addition to the serendipitous meetups that will happen spontaneously throughout Dell World, Dell is also scheduling meetings, such as an Executive Summit for CIOs, to facilitate peer-to-peer interaction.

Enjoy Austin.

If you’ve been there, you know what I’m talking about! If you haven’t been there, you’re in for an amazing experience. In fact, Dell keeps asking attendees where they want to have Dell World, and people want to come back. Austin has something for everyone, whether you love music, great food or the great outdoors. For starters, Dell World will feature both Weezer and Duran Duran in concert–something for everyone from millennials to baby boomers. Get some fresh air with a walk or run around Town Lake, and grab a bite or drink at the Hula Hut as a reward. At night, check out the live music and gourmet food trucks on Rainey Street, or at Austin City Limits. And don’t forget to check out the nightly bat migration under the Congress Street Bridge. Last but not least, there’s the history–Dell was born in Austin in Michael Dell’s University of Texas dorm room. Since then, Austin has grown as a tech mecca.

Dell World also marks the one-year anniversary since founder Michael Dell won an extended battle to take the company private. In a recent CNBC interview, he expressed how liberating its been to off the Wall Street treadmill and able to focus on customers, and invest more time, R&D and energy on their behalf. I have a feeling that attendees will probably pick up on how this more positive energy is coming to fruition at Dell World as well.